Judge calls distracted drivers a 'plague on society'

A judge called a woman - and other motorists who use mobile devices while driving - a "plague on society" as he sentenced her to six years in jail following a fatal crash she caused while using two mobile phones behind the wheel.

Police say Marina Usaceva of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England was driving her Jaguar at speeds up to 70 mph and using two mobile devices when she crashed into the back of Sukhdeep Singh Johal's Peugeot 206, causing the death of the 27-year-old biomedical science graduate.

The Toowoomba Chronicle reports that Usaceva insisted to officers at the scene she had not been using a phone behind the wheel before the crash.

However, an investigation determined that Usaceva sent a text message just before the crash and receive one - on another device - around the same time.

In addition, a Samsung phone sent one message, made one phone call and received three incoming calls in the 20 minutes leading up to the crash.

Prosecutors in the case also noted that Usaceva had previously been caught twice using her phone behind the wheel and that her license was suspended in 2009 and 2012.